The Apostle Islands that weren't

David and I cooling off, waiting for moonrise

Our next destination was the Apostle Islands, north and east of Duluth. They are a group of islands in Lake Superior that you really need a boat of some kind to explore.  We opted not to rent a boat or go on a cruise boats and come back to visit another time (yeah, right.). The ferry to Madeline Is seemed overly expensive as well.  We had a nice time in Bayfield though, its a cute little town with old homes, a large marina, interesting stores, and, my favorite, a community sailing program.  Just as we drove into town we saw the sign for a free concert in the park so we were happy.  We parked in the overflow ferry parking lot, right on the beach, and quickly made dinner.  We walked to the beach to eat and started visiting with a fellow who looked a LOT like my brother Robb.  He was in his swimming suit (bald, swimming suit – ring any bells?) and had his cameras  to photograph the full moon rising across the water, but didn't know where it would be coming up.  We all placed two sticks in the sand to line up where we were betting the moon would rise and sat back to wait. The music from the park wafted down to us as the sun set, and drinking a bottle of wine had nothing to do with any of this.

David, that was his name, is on a quest to swim in every river and near-to-the-edge lake of Lake Superior. It is a BIG lake, doncha know! It was very hot and muggy and David was enjoying the water so much that I put on my suit and joined him.  Because of the heavy humidity and haze it was not the spectacular moonrise he had hoped for, but it was fun watching it anyway.  A sailboat and airplane flew by at just the right moment for some great photos.  By the way, none of us were close in our moonrise location. Once we got the moon to its proper height we walked down to the park to finish up the music and then strolled the marina looking at the sailboats. There were many boats owned by folks who come for the weekend so it was pretty quiet. Chatted with the young Coast Guard cadets who were standing by to watch for drunk boaters.

The next morning, while Thayer was working(!), I wandered the town, found a nice park with WIFI nearby, the smoked fish shop, the Maritime History Museum, and the North Coast Community Sailing Center. We moved the rig to the park and went swimming – really lovely water! Cooled off nicely before heading to our next destination. Unfortunately, there was no activity at the sailing center-would have been nice!